Review: Hide and Seek

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Cinemaddiction
In the wake of his wifes untimely death, David Callaway (DeNiro) and his daughter Emily (Fanning) look to start a new by moving to a quiet summer retreat in upstate New York. Having being distanced from all she knew, Emily finds solace in her friend "Charlie", an imaginary friend of sorts. The Callaway's encounter one strange occurance after another, horrific messages from "Charlie", who is determined to make David understand that he's guilty of driving his wife away. In the process, Emily shares the understanding that David deserves absolutely nothing but guilt and sleepless nights. As the horrific episodes intensify, they begin to scare Emily, so much so that she begins to fear Charlie's company, the likes of which she can't escape.

Many a person have seen the trailer and decided that this is Robert DeNiro's "Godsend" of 2005. Small child, hints of posession, he, playing a supporting role. Amidst this negative speculation, none of which is true, John Polson, delivered a really tight, suspenseful psycho thriller here. While not too heavy, conversely more effective than others, the cliches were ever present such as the array of questionable suspects, some jump scares, and a haunting score.

Those, thankfully, we're all overshadowed by one Dakota Fanning.
In parts, her approach to making DeNiro's character feel like the absolute scum of the Earth played off like borderline obsession. In others, the morbid fear of wanting to abandon Charlie and this twisted game made you want to slaughter the bad guy, and run away with the girl. DeNiro's performance wasn't as lax as many speculated, either. His role was to grieve, and grieve he did, to a point which nobody could see coming.

What I appreciated in "Hide and Seek" is the cleverness and simplicity of the actual story. A game. Hide and Seek, which went on to be the poetically ironic twist in the entire movie, as DeNiro's product of grieving, a split personality identity "Charlie", was created, and executed the horrdenous acts that begat the family, including his wifes "suicide". In addition, the amount of guess work that had to be applied, if you wished to follow along, was refreshing. There were sporadic clues left by each character, but none paid off. As convinced as you may have been with mature beyond her years Emily, her blink of an eye character turn made you equally as unsure. A total mind game, finally, a halfway smart thriller.

"Seek" showed potential for absolute greatness, but somewhat faltered in the end with a rushed, all too common "twist" ending, visited a few times before. In addition, I felt as if the supporting characters were a little too abundant, and too distant to be established as credible suspects for the goings on in the Callaway home. It makes the real killer stand out more. All in all, it was an enjoyable thriller, a great date movie, indeed. The likes of which should be seen, if not for anything else but the evolution of one of Hollywood's stars. Dakota Fanning. The new Drew Barrymore, only 10 years old, 1,000 times better, and minus the drugs.

If you wish to discuss the movie, please follow up in the "Hide and Seek" thread, found in the "Horror" section.

Text-only Version: Click HERE to see this thread with all of the graphics, features, and links.